Staff Reporter :
The number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases continues to soar in Bangladesh as people continue to violate health guidelines amid lax enforcement of the ongoing nationwide shutdown, according to public health experts.
Expressing concern over the soaring coronavirus cases, public health experts urged the government to strictly enforce the shutdown measures saying that the country is now passing through a very crucial time in the fight against coronavirus.
Seven hundred and nine people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours and with this, the total number of infected has reached 13,134, said Prof Dr Nasima Sultana, Additional Director General (Administration) of DGHS, during a briefing on Friday.
She also said that seven more people died with coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the number of fatalities to 206.
A total of 5,941 samples were tested in 35 labs across the country since yesterday, Dr Nasima added.
Meanwhile, 191 patients of Covid-19 have recovered around the country in the last 24 hours. The total recovery number stands at 2,101 now, the DGHS official said.
Among the seven deceased, five were males and three females. One was above 90 years old, two were between 71-80 years old, two within 61-70 years old and the other two were between 51-60 years old, Dr Nasima said.
A total of 130 people were put under isolation in the last 24 hours, she added.
“Daily new cases remain at over 700 as people continue to violate health guidelines due to lax enforcement of nationwide shutdown,” Prof Muzaherul Huq, a former adviser (Southeast Asia Region) of the World Health Organization, told The New Nation.
He said the shutdown has been extended further but currently it is being implemented in relaxed manner. Many people are roaming on the streets across the country and an
increasing number of private vehicles plying on the roads in Dhaka, posing the risk of virus’s contamination. “So the shutdown must be enforced effectively,” he added.
On Monday, around 688 fresh cases were recorded in Bangladesh, which jumped to over 700 on a daily basis in the following days. While visiting the capital on Friday, this correspondent found that many people roaming on the city roads, crowding in the kitchen markets and a large number of private cars plying on the streets in Dhaka.
The government on May 4 declared opening up economic activities, including opening up of shopping malls and stores across Bangladesh from May 10, on condition of maintaining safety guidelines.
But many local shops and stores remain opened on Friday defying the government’s directive.
Shopkeepers kept their shops open at Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Shantinagar, Malibagh, Rampura, Banasree, Karwan Bazar, Mirpur, and some other areas of the capital without maintaining the health guidelines.
All kinds of shops remained open in the city’s Shewrapara and Mirpur.
Also, people in the capital flocked to mosques to attend Jummah prayers after four weeks, as the ban on mosques was lifted with certain conditions amid spike in coronavirus cases across the country.
The virus, which causes the respiratory infection Covid-19, was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, in late 2019. It is spreading rapidly in many countries and the number of deaths is still climbing.
On 11 March, the outbreak was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is when an infectious disease is passing easily from person to person in many parts of the world at the same time.
Nearly four million people are known to have been infected worldwide, but the true figure is thought to be much higher as many of those with milder symptoms have not been tested and counted.
